So the past couple of days you must have noticed the KONY craze that has been going all over our social media. Now in today's culture I feel like once something this big goes viral, it takes seconds for people to get annoyed with it purely because it is everywhere, but KONY is different from the mysterious brooms that stand up or anything that has taken an "arrow to the knee". For the past 8 years a few guys with a camera have been trying to show the US what's been happening to the children in Uganda. If you haven't seen Invisible Children, I suggest you do. It's a good documentary and it tells the tragic tale of these poor children. If you have 30 minutes check out this video which has gone viral this week:
I find it amazing how much social media is changing our world. In class we discussed how only a handful of major companies own every possible media outlet in the US, except for one. Social networking sites have really opened up the opportunity for normal everyday people to release their ideas, believes, and even weekly video blogs and podcasts , most of which can be accessed by anybody who finds them interesting enough to watch. Now the big companies are still a major factor in today's world, but this rising social media gives people the option to personalize their media intake. They don't have to sit in front of a TV and wait for their favorite program to come on. They can simply get on a computer and find it through a plethora of ways. They can also spread their favorite media to everybody they know.
Which is what allowed KONY 2012 to become so popular. It wasn't broadcast over every television station. It wasn't brought up by Oprah or any big company. Three friends went to Africa, saw what was happening, shot a documentary, and showed everybody who would watch. This year they launched their social media campaign. That video was put on the internet 3 days ago. as of now 40,781,302 people have watched it.
Social media is as powerful as those big companies, and is growing in power each day.
I agree that social medias are a wonderful way to network with your friends, and network community. But we have to recognize the problem inherit in today's social networks. Advertisers and marketing agencies revive a plethora of personal information from social networks. They put this information together and with it place their product more accurately. You are still receive the same type of advertisement, and product placement you find in other forms of media. But it is undoubtedly true that these social networks provide a voice for individuals who would otherwise not be heard.
ReplyDeleteI like how people are trying to ensure that everyone sees the video and learns about KONY. Everyone will put posters up and place stickers everywhere so that people cannot help but see them. Then it is hoped that these people will go home an research what they have seen. People are trying their best to spread KONY 2012. This is spreading from social networks to advertisers. Advertisers are producing the signs, posters, and stickers and people are spreading KONY 2012 ; which causes more people to buy the products. People are really taking this to an extreme in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the comments on here. I believe it is a good thing that KONY has been recognized, but the media hype will produce problems when it comes to selling t-shirts, pillows, and any other merchandise you can think of. All this in the name of them recieving donations to help with KONY. This makes them money. A better way to deal with this would be going to the legislation and discussing with them the possiblility in getting involved, which they already are. The U.S. government, as stated in the movie, has trained the Ugandan's in how to capture a fugitive such as KONY. It is now up to them to make their move. But, it is truly amazing how quickly the knowledge of this man was spread across the internet.
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